Language + Language Development

Question 1

Language

Answer 1

System for communicating with others using signals
- Signals must be combined according to rules of grammar
- Signals must convey meaning

Question 2

Grammar

Answer 2

Set of rules that defines how the units of language can be combined

Question 3

3 big differences btw human and monkey language

Answer 3

1) Human language has complex structure
2) Human language can refer to intangible things (e.g. unicorns, happiness(
3) Humans use language to name, categorize, and describe things to ourselves when we think

Question 4

Language component hierarchy

Answer 4

Smallest –> largest
Phenome, morphemes/words, words, phrases, sentences

Question 5

Phenomes

Answer 5

Smallest unit of speech that distinguishes one unit from another; phenomes are combined to form words

In English, the letters (B makes ba) or combinations of letters (sh makes sh sound) are phenomes

Question 6

Phenomic rules

Answer 6

How phenomes can be combined to form words

Question 7

Morphemes

Answer 7

Combinations of phenomes; the smallest meaningful unit of language

In English, it could be a word (e.g. dog);
however, the meaning of the word “dog” can be altered by adding an s (dogs), so s can be a morpheme as well

Question 8

Morphological rules

Answer 8

How morphemes can be combined to make words

Question 9

Content vs function morphemes

Answer 9

Content: refer to things and events (dog, park, concert, etc)

Function: serve grammatical function (and, or, but, etc)
- Function morphemes give our language complexity

NOTE: both content and function morphemes can stand alone as words

Question 10

Syntactic rules/syntax

Answer 10

How words can be combined to form phrases (e.g. a sentence must contain a noun and a verb)

Question 11

Broca’s area

Answer 11

Responsible for language PRODUCTION; located in left frontal cortex

Question 12

Broca’s aphasia

Answer 12

• Can only comprehend simple language
• Lots of trouble w speech production

Question 13

Wernicke’s area

Answer 13

Responsible for language COMPREHENSION (spoken or signed); located in left temporal cortex

Question 14

Wernicke’s aphasia

Answer 14

• Difficulty comprehending language
• Produce grammatical but meaningless speech

Question 15

Bilingualism

Answer 15

• Monolingual and bilingual children don’t differ significantly in the course and rate of many aspects of language dev
• May be correlated to delayed onset of Alzheimer’s
• Other benefits still up for debate

Question 16

Chimps learning human language

Answer 16

Washoe: learned over 160 words in ASL + formed novel constructions (e.g. water bird for duck)
- Infant chimp named Loulis learned 68 signs just by watching Washoe communicate w other chimps

Kanzi: learned to communicate w geometric keyboard
- Tried to teach mother but she couldn’t learn it –> suggests apes also have a critical period
- Comprehension progressed faster than production – mirrors humans

Limitations: limited vocab, could only communicate concrete objects and simple actions, limited understanding of grammar

Question 17

3 main characteristics of human language development

Answer 17

1) Speed: children learn very fast – 10K words in 4 yrs btw ages 2-5 –> 6-7 new words a day

2) Few errors – children make few errors while learning how to speak

3) Comprehension > production – comprehension develops FASTER than production at every stage

Question 18

Language capabilities of infants

Answer 18

• 4-6 months old
• Perceptual narrowing
• Can’t produce speech dependently – rely on other forms of communication (crying - birth, cooing - 1mo, babbling - 4-6mo)

Question 19

Perceptual narrowing

Answer 19

• 6-8mo can distinguish btw all contrasting sounds in the human language at birth, BUT by 8-12 months, they lose that ability
• Can only distinguish btw contrasting sounds in the language they hear being spoken around them
• Benefits: infants that tune into the speech sounds of their native language faster –> larger vocabs at age 2

Question 20

Babbling

Answer 20

• Characteristic of infants
• ALL infants go through the babbling sequence –> suggests babbling is a natural part of our natural development
• Deaf infants also babble but less and later (11 mo) –> implies infants must be able to hear themselves to continue babbling

Question 20

Categorical speech perception

Answer 20

• Infants perceive speech sounds categorically
• Ex: acoustic difference btw “b” and “p” falls on continuum but we perceive these consonants as 2 distinctive categories

Question 21

At what age do babies say their first word

Answer 21

10-12 months old

Question 22

Telegraphic speech

Answer 22

• Occurs at 2 years
• Sentences without function morphemes (and, or, but, etc) and mostly consisting of content words, BUT they’re grammatical –> implies acquisition of syntax rules

Question 23

Errors in emergence of grammar rules: overregularization

Answer 23

• 2-3 yr olds use correct past tense but 4-5 yr olds don’t bc they OVERREGULARIZE/overuse (e.g. kid overregularizes rule that past tense is indicated by “-ed” so run –> “runned” or “ranned”)
• Indicates that language acquisition is more than just imitating adult speech – children acquire grammar rules by listening to the speech around them to create new verbal forms without explicit awareness

Question 24

At what age to children begin making complete sentences

Answer 24

~3 yrs old

Question 25

2 theories on the orderly progression of language development

Answer 25

1) General cog dev unrelated to a specific language (e.g. infants begin w utterances bc their short-term memories are so limited)

2) Progression depends on experience w specific language – orderly progression is a reflection pf a child’s emerging knowledge of the language

Question 26

3 main theories of language dev

Answer 26

Behaviorist, nativist, interactionist

Question 27

Behaviorist theory of language development

Answer 27

We learn to talk thru reinforcement, shaping, extinction, and other basic principles of operant conditioning (more “nurture”)

Question 28

Nativist theory of language development

Answer 28

• Predisposition for language; language processes naturally emerge as long as the infant receives adequate input to maintain the acquisition process (more “nature”)
• Evidence: critical periods for language dev, animals don’t learn language as successfully as humans
• Universal Grammar: collection of processes that facilitate language learning

Question 29

Who is Genie and what theory of language dev does she support

Answer 29

• Genie: neglected child; kept completely isolated in a locked room by her father from 20 months to 13 yrs old
• Hadn’t learned language in isolation; had trouble learning language as an adult
• Supports nativist theory

Question 30

Interactionist theory of language development

Answer 30

• Sort of a middle ground btw nativist and behaviorist
• Infants are born w an innate ability to acquire language BUT social interactions play a crucial role
  -Parents tailor their verbal interactions w children in ways that simplify the language acquisition process (speak slowly, enunciate more clearly, etc)
• Supported by the creation of a new sign language by deaf kids in Nicaragua

Question 31

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis/linguistic relativity hypothesis + strong vs weak

Answer 31

Describes how and to what degree language influences our behavior

STRONG version
- Language determines thoughts and behavior
- Spoken language determines the concepts and categories u use –> shapes what can think abt

WEAK version
- Language influences thoughts and behavior
- Language influences what we pay attention to –> shapes experience

Psychologists prefer the WEAK version
- Ex: some languages have few words for color but can still color match